October 28, 2010

Multiculturalism is like a marriage: nothing can be taken for granted in relationships.

Germany's multiculturalism is on the rocks. German Chancellor Angela Merkel aired irreconcilable differences to a gathering of young conservative supporters. "The approach of multiculturalism, to live side-by-side and to enjoy each other, has failed, utterly failed," the chancellor explained to the rousing applause of the party faithful.

Canada is not Germany but Merkel's comments serve as a wake-up call that we cannot rest with the status quo. Failing to reaffirm multiculturalism would doom it to failure.

Finances are an irritant in relationships and Germany is not exempt. Like much of the industrial world, they are going through a rough patch. In good times, Germany welcomed temporary guest workers but never really tried to integrate them. Now that temporary workers are unemployed, Germans have come to resent them.

Unlike Germany, Canada actively recruits immigrants as well as temporary guest workers. We celebrate our cultural diversity so that Canada has become genuinely pluralist. Even conservative strongholds are affected. Calgarians recently elected Naheed Nenshi, first member of a visible minority to be elected mayor of Calgary and first Muslim to run a major Canadian city. My Facebook friends in Calgary are jubilant and eager to replace the tired cowtown image with a cosmopolitan one. Nenshi is sophisticated, articulate and intellectual; an example of multiculturalism that all Canadians can be proud of.

However, we can't rest on our laurels. Immigrants have humble beginnings that sometimes make their potential difficult to grasp. Boatloads of immigrants and homegrown terrorists foster intolerance. In a poll taken after the arrival of Tamils by boat this summer, negative feelings towards immigrants increased by five per cent over last year. Unemployed Canadians imagine they are taking their jobs when they create jobs that didn't exist or take jobs that Canadian workers don't want anyway.

Albertans had some the most negative feelings about immigration in the country according to the poll and don't embrace immigrants. How does that explain the election of Nenshi? Either Calgary is liberal island in a Tory blue sea or his exuberant election parallels the meteoric rise of U.S. President Obama - - hope that burns brightly but all too briefly.



 

Unlike Alberta (Calgary excepted), British Columbians favour multiculturalism despite the arrival boatload of Tamil immigrants to our shore. Our support of immigration is one of the highest in Canada. No wonder. The face of Vancouver is rapidly becoming Asian and in only two decades whites will be a visible minority on the streets of Vancouver according to projections by Statistics Canada. Anyone who has eyes to see understands the benefits immigration brings to B.C.

It's human nature to distrust the other but thoughtful Canadians value not only the beauty of diversity but the economic benefits that migrants bring to Canada as a trading nation. Multicultural Canadians are often multilingual and retain valuable international contacts that enhance trade. They are global ambassadors of Canada.

Europeans have forgotten their roots. No written record traces the migration of the first Europeans out of African thousands of generations ago. Only the genetic record reveals that first Europeans were black-skinned and that white-skinned people are a relatively new genetic mutation that occurred 13,000 years ago. How can Europeans now reject new African immigrants when they share the same ancestors? Sadly, Europe's origins are lost in antiquity.

Canada's origins are not lost. Our roots are freshly written in the memories of our parents and grandparents. We are the beneficiaries of the generous spirit and hospitality of Canada's first people. The story of Canada is not buried in antiquity but lives in our ongoing celebration of diversity.

The European Union provides hope that Europeans can erase the scars of xenophobia. It's an uphill struggle that must reverse decades of suspicion of the other and write a new story of a unified people. While Canada was becoming more diverse, Europe was becoming less so. Few Jews remain in Germany after the ethnic cleansing of the Nazis. There are fewer Italians in Slovenia; less Hungarians in Slovakia; Germans have left the Czech Republic. Historian Tony Judt explains "Europe of nation-states more ethnically homogeneous than ever before."

The story of Canada remains one of a welcoming, multicultural society. The story must be told again and again until it's embedded into our collective consciousness. It's well worth the effort. Without it, things fall apart.

David Charbonneau is the owner of Trio Technical.
He can be reached at dcharbonneau13@shaw.ca